View full sizeState police wanted poster for Richard Haugh, a fugitive from a 1992 rape investigation in Belmont. He was apprehended in Colombia officials announced on Friday.Courtesy of Massachusetts State Police

BELMONT – Richard Haugh, a 71-year-old rape suspect who had been on the run since jumping bail in 1992, was apprehended by federal agents and local police in the South American country of Colombia, the Massachusetts State Police announced Friday.

Haugh, considered one of the state police’s Most Wanted Fugitives, was apprehended in a taxi as he was traveling from Cali to Cartagena. He had packed suitcases, and officials believe he was attempting to flee again, police said.

His arrest is the result of the work by investigators with the state police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, Belmont Police and the U.S. State Department, who were able to pinpoint his whereabouts in Colombia and then direct police where to find him, state police said.

The Middlesex District Attorney's Office will coordinate with federal officials for Haugh’s extradition back to the United States to stand trial.

Haugh was arrested in 1992 by Belmont police and charged with several sex crimes, including rape of a child, indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14, assault with intent to rape of a child and providing obscene materials to a minor.

While out on bail before his trial, Haugh disappeared to avoid prosecution.

His state police wanted poster describes Haugh as having a Ph.D, and being an accomplished author, publisher and academic.

He also faces federal fraud charges filed by the U.S. Postal Service, police said.

State police investigators, Belmont police and officials with the Middlesex DA’s office picked up the search for Haugh last year, and were able to determine that he was living in Colombia. The U.S. State Department was contacted, and agents with its Diplomatic Security Service attempted to apprehend Haugh in May, but he was able to escape.

Over the last month, new information came to light that revealed where he was and that he was getting ready to take off again. Diplomatic Security Service agents and Colombian police were waiting for him today and stopped him in a taxi.

Haugh is scheduled to be arraigned as a fugitive in Colombia. Once he clears extradition, he could be returned to the Miami as early as Sunday, police said. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the federal postal fraud charges before he will be returned to Massachusetts to stand trial in Belmont.